DOE pitches $10M for energy cybersecurity

The Energy Department has finally announced details of the grant it will award for setting up a National Electric Sector Cyber Security Organization, which will be the major authority charged with protecting the electricity grid.

The good news is that it’s worth around $10 million. The bad news is that potential applicants have less than a month -- until April 30 -- to pull their applications together.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory  is managing the process for DOE.

The department first made the announcement about the new organization at the beginning of this year. The idea is to have it develop and establish safeguards for emerging technologies such as the smart grid, which will use IT to tie intelligent meters and other devices together to give a better way of managing power demand and supply.

The DOE said it’s on an aggressive schedule “to meet the Nation's need for a reliable, efficient and resilient electric power grid.” However, given that it’s now four years after the department published its Roadmap to Secure Control Systems in the Energy Sector, you have to wonder what it means by aggressive.

Nevertheless, at least we now have a concrete next step in place.